After Southern Title was placed in to receivership, Willett and Kidwell joined Entrust with the intent of creating back office solutions to support independent title agencies and real estate attorneys.  Their knowledge also provides Underwriters with a unique “piece of mind” knowing that their knowledge can help assist agents with almost any operational structure.  Both are offering assistance in commitment and/or policy production as well as many other products.

We are thrilled to have them both on board with us.

123 Center Park Drive, Suite 223, Knoxville, TN   37922

2170 Highland Avenue S. Suite 121 Birmingham, AL 35205

Well have no fear, Entrust is here.  We now offer our policy typing service to produce your final policies.  For $25.00 per file, we will take your commitment and final updated search to produce the final policy.  No matter if it’s an owners and lender policy, lender only, owner only or owners with two lenders, the price is the same.

To find out more information about what Entrust can do for you, please contact us.

If you’re a crook and want to double your proceeds from a real estate transaction, “there’s an app for that.”

Every day there is a new smartphone app that is designed to make your life easier, but at least one may be a problem for closing agents. Banks are now releasing smartphone applications that will allow their customers to complete the deposit of a paper check from anywhere using their smartphone. Just use the cell phone camera to take a picture of the front and back of the paper check, press a few buttons, and voilà! Your check has been deposited into your account. Watch this YouTube video that shows you how this process works. However, convenience for the customer can spell trouble for closing offices that get duped by someone who receives a check as a result of a closing. The following scam occurred in Florida.

A couple left their closing with a check for their proceeds. A couple of hours later, they returned to the closing office with the check and asked for a wire transfer instead. The unsuspecting closer voided the check and processed the wire. Unfortunately, they had used their smartphone and deposited the check before returning it to the closing office.

Most closing agents would not even have issued a Stop Payment request to their bank because they would have felt secure with having their original check in hand. In this case, even if they had issued a Stop Payment request, it would have been ineffective because the check would have already cleared their account and the wire would have double funded the recipient!

Even normal, “positive pay” protections would not have caught this, as the original check had already been approved for payment. This new age scam could have been prevented by just refusing to wire the proceeds. Sometimes it pays to just say you are sorry but once a check is cut, you cannot change the method of payment.

While more and more banks are offering this service, most have imposed a limit on the amount of money that can be deposited via smartphone. But even a $1,000 loss is too much to absorb. Pass this on to all your staff and remain aware of new scams spawned by new technology.

There is a post on thetitleweb.com here

Here is a quick example:

A crook contacts a local, reputable Realtor to purchase real property. The thief is generally from another state –or – completely out of the country and most of the conversations are conducted over the phone or via email. Once the thief has identified the property of their choice, they next contact a Title Company or Real Estate Attorney to discuss their fees for closing the transaction.

The fraudster notifies the Title Company or Attorney they are sending certified funds via a large well known bank. The funds are typically a cashier’s check from a large bank in Canada (although it can be from any foreign country).

The fraudulent check is sent via FedEx overnight mail and the criminal contacts the Title Company or Attorney asking when the funds will be deposited. Once the criminal is notified the funds were deposited, the criminal then tells the Title Company or Attorney that the deal fell through and wants you to wire the funds back to them or another bank account.

Little does the Title Company or Attorney know, the cashier’s check that was deposited was completely fake. Banks typically take a few days to process the deposit and notify you if that deposit made was returned. Since the funds were already wired out of the escrow / trust account, there is no way to recall the wire and now the account is short.

Don’t become a victim of this fraud. If you receive a cashier’s check from a bank, contact the local branch and have them direct you to the appropriate contact to verify if the funds are legitimate. DO NOT CALL THE PHONE NUMBER ON THE CHECK.